I swear, just when I think I’m out, the NBA reels me back in. Y’all may have noticed that my Lockout updates have been a bit less frequent over the past few weeks. That’s been by design. I’ve been trying to take things as they come, instead of getting invested in every single twist-and-turn of this ridiculous process. A deal will get done when it gets done, and there’s nothing I – or any other fan, honestly – can do to speed that up.

But, now, even with my best efforts to stay unemotional, my heart’s in my throat about the negotiations. After yesterday’s 15-hour meeting, David Stern was quoted as saying “The energy in the room has been good; the back and forth has been good.” There’s been a sudden avalanche of hopeful tweets about the process from people in the know over the past 24 hours. A full 82-game schedule seems to be back on the table, somehow. The two sides aren’t saying much to the press, sure, but things seem to be moving.

Now, this could all fall apart later today. Every time there’s been some light over the horizon in this lockout, we’ve been kicked in the teeth by some terrible news. But man, I love the NBA. So I’m going to sit back, watch the 2010-2011 highlights video below a couple more times and hope against hope that they’ll finally get it done.